TNS Sofres just dropped a new study highlighting a trend that’s already well underway: Web 2.0 is growing fast and having a real impact on both users and how businesses are perceived.
The study dives into two key areas: Web 2.0 usage and users, and how businesses are dealing with it. It tries to answer big questions like: “Is Web 2.0 still just getting started?”, “Are Web 2.0 users more like spectators than contributors?”, “What do people say about their companies online?” and “How can businesses actually make use of Web 2.0?”
So what’s the takeaway?
Web 2.0 is, and I quote: “a revolution in progress,” and for companies, it means “a new way of gathering info and a desire to have influence.” In short, people want to be heard (or read, really), and they expect companies to respond. One of Web 2.0’s big goals is clearly to open up a real dialogue between customers, employees, and businesses. More broadly, it’s about creating interaction between users, consumers, organizations, decision-makers, and so on.
“Web 2.0 usage is growing fast in France.”
With data to back it up, the study shows Web 2.0 isn’t just a passing trend. No real surprise there, honestly.
“Widespread adoption is shaking up how the public interacts with companies.”
70% of those surveyed said the internet “has totally changed how they get info about companies.” Even more telling: 44% say they “like using the internet to influence business behavior.” So yeah, taking people’s opinions seriously has never been more important. Users want to have a say (by leaving reviews, for instance), but they also want to hear from others: 75% of respondents say they’ve checked out customer reviews before buying a product.
This two-way dynamic between people and businesses is only getting stronger. People share their thoughts, and they also listen to what companies have to say. In practice, the two most common formats are: corporate blogs (where employees can speak out) and companies responding to posts on forums or sites where they’re being discussed.
Even though this study only looked at French users, it still confirms trends a lot of us already suspected. It’s just nice to finally have some numbers backing it all up. So now the real question is: when do we get a similar study across Europe—or even globally?
Technical details
Survey conducted online from Jan 15 to 19, 2008, with a sample of 1,010 French internet users aged 15+, all representative of Web 2.0 users. A Web 2.0 user = anyone who’s at least heard of, visited, or taken part in at least one Web 2.0 platform. Web 2.0 platforms = blogs, chats, forums, social networks (Facebook, Copains d’avant), photo/video sharing sites, podcasts or vidcasts, virtual worlds (Second Life), wikis.
Download the study
PDF: Web 2.0: the new frontier for corporate communication? Via: JB Plantin.